News from our President

"The Asian Economy" Subject of Speech for U. N. Luncheon

The Annual Meeting

Minnesota Report

Board meeting - February 26, 2000

PPSEAWA Workshop: "Children: Our Window to the 21st Century"

New Jersey

Just to let You Know

PPSEAWA Workshop: "Children: Our Window to the 21st Century" held in Maumee, Ohio on November 6, 1999.

Program for Children, the Family and Health Regional Workshop Front Row: Gloria Baez, Chicago' Toledo Members: Ci-Ping Anderson-Huang; Ginney Schlicher, Chairperson; Joan Searles. Back Row: Elizabeth Balint; Greta Ullman; Doris Daneking; Louise Bankey; Mary Helen Welch; Sharon Vass; Fran De Lamater, President Toledo Chapter; and two guests Vicki and Marlene Lehman, Walbridge, Ohio Hosting Toledo Chapter. Far right: Fran Delamater, President Toledo Chapter, Ginny Schicher, coordinator of the Toledo meeting Attending members at Toledo meeting: Anita Yamada, Chicago guest from Hungary; Shirani Stanislaus L.A.; Corrine Pearson, Minnesota Bettie Laudauer-Menchik, member at large, and Betty Landauer at the Toledo meeting

The purpose of this intensive and enlightening workshop was to examine ways in which we can help to improve the well-being of children from birth through 10 years and help them to survive in the next millennium. Similar regional workshops, sponsored by PPSEAWA, UNESCO, and WHO, were held in Hawaii, Singapore, and Vladivostock, Russia. Ginney Schlicher was the chairperson for this regional workshop; attendees were greeted by members and guests in international costumes symbolizing that women and mothers are concerned about the lives of children around the world. PPSEAWA International President, Elizabeth-Louise Girardi, gave the welcoming address.

The most compelling speaker was a surgeon from Toledo, Dr. S.Amjad Hussain who addressed international children's issues. He began with an anecdote about his home town of Peshawar, at the foot of the Khyber Mountains in Pakistan. He contrasted rural poverty with urban modernity in this city, where ragged children run along the same street as sleek cell-phone toting businessmen in their Mercedes.

Dr. Hussaid pointed out that although South and Southeast Asia have enjoyed relatively good economic growth in the past two decades, these regions have some of the poorest citizens in the world. Dr.Hussain noted that several Asian countries have spent a disproportionate amount of their country's GNP on building up their military strength, leaving less funds for education and human and social services. Children's nutrition and literacy have not been a priority.

The main issue facing children is SURVIVAL. As we come to the end of the 20th century, the problems of hunger and sanitation remain. In Pakistan, more than 30% of the children are underweight. In China, 15-30% of children are underweight. Malnutrition affects a child for life by retarding development of the mind and the body. Despite modern medical advances, infant mortality rates have not changed significantly in Asia. Over 11 million children under the age of 8 die every year of preventable diseases, like diarrhea.

What can one person do to change this situation?

Dr. Hussain reminded everyone that humanitarian efforts from individuals work just as well as macro-economic solutions at the governmental level. He gave an example of such a "micro-solution." Over 5 years ago, Dr. Hussain and other Pakistani doctors in North America started an organization that focused on improving public health in a dozen villages in Pakistan. They found volunteers to bring vaccines from the UN for the children. The volunteers also showed villagers how to use hand pumps for clean water and to dig ditches for better sanitation. They taught the women how to make a simple rehydration fluid from water, baking soda and salt for diarrhea. This micro-solution only costs about $5000 per village, or about $1 per person per year.

This project, which was started by a group of concerned individuals and staffed by volunteers, resulted in better health, a drop in infant mortality, and even increased prosperity for these Pakistani villages. Thus, Dr. Hussain reminded us, that change ultimately begins with the individual.